Coin alarm and registering apparatus.



un. 704,954. A Patented my l5, |902.

- f A. BARRETT. A

GOIN ALARM A ND REGISTERNG APPBATUS.

-fAppuaeion med Jan. 21.v 1902.1

(llo l-lodel.)

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIICE.

ALBERT BARRETT, KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI.

COlN ALARM AND RE-GISTERING APPARATUS.

SPEGIFLGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 704,954', dated July15, 1902. Application filed January 21, 1902. Serial No. 90,592. (Nomodal.)

T0 all whom t may concern/ Be it known that I, ALBERT BARRETT, residingat KansasCity, in the county of Jackson and State of Missouri, haveinvented certain Improvements in GoinAlarm and Registering Apparatus, ofwhich'the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to apparatus to be associated with theoutfit of atelephonesubstation by means of which a registration is madeof the connection with a second sub-Y station through the switchingapparatus at the central oiiice and also by which an audible signal issounded in such a way as to be heard by the operator at the centralstation.

The apparatus consists of a box, preferably of metal, secured to a backboard in the vicinity of the telephone atthe substation. There is anorifice in the top of the box for the insertion of a coin, which falls acertain distance and lodges between two resilient or adj ustable walls,Ywhere it remains until the operator ascertains whether connection can bemade with the desired substation. If the line is busy, the operator soinforms the waiting subscriber, who then turns a crank-handle to theright, whereupon the coin descends a runway and appears upon a ledge orholder outside the box; but if the second substation can be obtainedupon reception of the intelligence the subscriber turns the said handleto the left side and the coin is carried down a second runway andiinally is violently eX- pelled from the carrying device against a gong,the resonance of which is heard by the operator through thesubstation-transmitter. At the same time the register is operated andcounts one, and when the operator hears the sound of the gong she makesthe switching connection between the two sulostations. It

is intended that the coin be inserted into the" box before the`subscriber calls the central station, and in a modification oftheinven-` tion it is necessary that the coin be so inserted in orderthat it may by its substance close the circuit of the magneto-generatorin order that it may be operated to call the centrai-station operator.

dicated by thearrow in Fig. 2, which is a vertical section of Fig. 1.Fig. 3`is a side View of a detached portion. Fig. 3iL is a view of Fig.3, showing a movement of its parts. portion, showing the'indicator oftheregistering apparatus. Fig. 5 is a rear View of a detached part. Fig. 6is a reduced view of the face or frontrofY the apparatus, and Fig.V 7 is'a diagram to illustrate the'action ot' the coin or token as acircuit-closer.

` Referring to the drawings, A represents a back board, to which isscrewed the metal box B, the screws passing through the board into holesa in the covers of the box.

C is ablock, preferably 0f wood, fastened by screws to the inner frontwall of the box and supports most of theparts of the apparatus, and Lisa drawerladapte'd to slide into Ithe lower part of the box and to 'belocked thereto and constitutes the till or treasury of the box. l

TD is a spindle extending-from the inside of the box through the block Cand the stud f, and onto its smaller end h is secured the hub of a crankg by the pin 1.

' E (see Figs. 2 and 5) is a disk on the end of the spindle and integraltherewith, having a thin part b for the most of the diameter and thesector-shaped part c of the ,same thickness as the hub portiond. Thepart b is let into the block C, so that its face is iiush with itssurface.

'iis a metal button having an inner portion j of smaller diameter andhas a hole eccentric of its center, through which passes thesmallsquared stud 40, projecting from the face of the hub d, so that itwill move with the hub, and upon the lportieri j is a disk S, clampedbetween the hub d' and the button t. This Fig. 4 is a side view of adetachedl disk is of larger diameter than the disk b and Y with thelatter forms a pocket from the abutment m to the abutment y directlyunder the chute o, formed on the under sidejot `the resilient andmovable jaw M, which swings upon the screw 3,- there beinga slot 18inits edge from Athe screw 17 to permit motion. The jaw M isheld inposition by the spring s, one end of which engages with the jaw, whileits opposite end is secured to the projection 12 from the plate fr, ascrew 13 extending through the projection to the rim 'm of the. jaw tosteady the sanne.l The plate r is held to the block C by screws 1l.

N is a bar having a slot 16, through which is the screw 15. The lowerend of the bar is secured to the disk S by screws 27. The jaw M and thebar N are inclined toward each other, as shown, and the angle isadjustable by means of the screw 13 and its set-nut 14, the spring sholding the jaw to the end of the screw. A chute ois thus continued fromthe coin-slot n, which lower down is divided into the two runways P andQ. The latter terminates at the orifice t in the side of the box and thecoin-holder p, projecting from the side, and has two sides w. The lowerpart of the runway Q is covered by the plate X to guide the coin at thispart of the runway.

I is a strap-spring fastened to the edge of the block C at one end bythe screws 9 and is curved outward at 10 and inclined toward the blockat its end 29 and is provided there with the inclosing triangular side4. The spring is adjustable by the screw 20.

i: is a strap riveted to the end of the spring I and has upon its endthe rod 8, to the outer end 7 ot' which is pivoted the bar 6, whoseopposite extremity is pivoted to the lever 23, attached to the spindle24 of the registering device R, which is secured by the foot 25 to theblock C. There is an orifice 26 in the side of the boX B, through whichlthe figures of the indicator may be seen.

J is a lever pivoted at 30 to the edge of the block, having a stop-pin33 at its end to engage the shoulders of the indenture 32. A spring 31,attached to the lever, bears upon a pin and is adapted to throw thelower projectingr part ot' the lever 43 into the position shown in Fig.3 under the part 4 of the spring I.

G is a spring-gong secured at one end by the screw 2l. to the block C,while its opposite end is free and opposite the lower part 43 of thelever J.

In Fig. 7, 51 and 52 represent the c0nductors of a telephone-circuit,having a bell in the bridge 53. The jaw M is connected to the conductor51 and the generator 54 with the conductor 52 and to the bar N. Normallythe generator-bridge is open and the generator cannot be used to send acurrent over the line; but when a coin or token T is inserted into thecoin-slot n it falls between the jaw M and the bar N and closes thegenerator-bridge, and while it remains in this position the generatorcan be used to signal over the line.

In the operation of the invention, Whether the coin is to close acircuit or not, upon insertion of the same, as previously said, it dropsbetween the jaw M and bar N, as represented by T in Fig. 1, and is heldin the chute. The order having been previously given to the operator bythe person calling, if the line wan ted is reported to be busy thesubscriber rotates the crank'g in the direction indicated by dottedlines in Fig. 6, (which will be reversed in Fig. l, as the viewis fromthe rear side,) the crank is turned until the eccentric i rises andcarries the disk S and bar N to one side, widening the space between thcbar and the jaw M, the coin then falls upon the edge of the hub das intoa pocket, as represented by T2, andis supported on one side by theabutment 19, and as the crank is turned the abutment at' strikes thecoin and carries it over, and it falls down the runway Q through theslot t into the holder p, as T4, from which the subscriber can regainit; but if the line is found not to be busy and can be engaged the crankis turned in the direction of the feathered arrow shown in Fig. 6,operating the eccentric, as before, as it opens the chute in eitherdirection, (which of course will be reversedin Fig. 1,) until theabutment z/ strikes the coin and foces it against the abutment19,whichyields,owing to the spring s, and the coin is carried into the positionT3 and in the runway P past the jaw M, which returns to its normalposition. The coin now rests against the spring I and is inclosed by theblock C on one side and the piece 4 and the disk S on the other, and asthe crank is turned the hub CZ and the abutment y force the springoutward and the coin downward until the latter is in the position of inFig. 3, when its edge presses the end 43 of lever J inward, and when thecoin reaches the end 29 of spring I and is a trifle more than half by itand the lower edge of the disk S, which has assisted to inclose it up tothis point, the spring I react-s, pressing the end 29 against the coin,forces it outward violently and suddenly against the convolutions of thespring-gong G, and then falls into the drawer L. As the coin strikes thegong it makes a loud resonant sound, which can be heard by the operatorat the central station through the substation-telephone. As the spring Iis forced outward, as described, it carries with it the bar 6, whichoperates the registering mechanism R and records 1,7 and returns tonormal position as soon as the coin is expelled from its seat. Uponhearing the sound of the gong the operator understands that the coin hasreached the till L and then couples the connection. The member M doesnot move to permit the coin to fall from between its side and the sideof the bar N; but when the coin is forced into the coin-passage P ityields to permit the coin to pass and then closes again, preventing thereturn of the coin. The bar N is, however, positively moved to one sideby the eccentric z'. When the Asprin g I is in its normal position, apin 60, projecting inward from the same against the edge of the lever J,holds the latter against the pressure of its spring 31, so that its end43 does not extend from the edge of spring I, and when the said spring Iis pressed outward by the coin the pin 60 moves away and the spring 3lpresses the lever J outward, where it remains until forced inward by thecoin, at which instantV the spring I returns and holds IOC) ICC

IIO

the lever .I retracted again. The ofce of the lever .I is by itsprojecting end43 to prevent or bar the spring I from coming back to itsnormal position when a coin is forced far enough through the passage Pto set the register, for if the coin should be partly returned and thenforced against the spring I again the register would be operated asecond time unless the lever J was interposed.

It will be seen that the apparatus is so devised that the person callingmay recover the coin in case he cannot secure the desired substation,and if he does obtain the connection he is obliged to sound an audiblesignal before the operator will switch the lines together, and after thesignal is made the coin cannot be recovered. g

I claim as my invention- 1. A coin alarm and registering apparatus,consisting of a box, a coin-chute within the same Whose opposite guidingadjustable edges are relatively movable and inclined toward each otherat their lower ends, adapted to detain a coin inserted in the chute, apocket to receive the coin from the chute, a coinrunway from the pocketto a coin-receptacle outside the box, a second coin-passage from thepocket normally obstructed, a gong at the exitof said passage, and meansas described for directing the coin from the chute to the pocket and tothe externalv coin-receptacle, or from the chute to the pocket throughthe second coin-passage and the exit thereof to the gong, as set forth.

2. A coin alarm and registering apparatus, consisting of a box, acoin-slot in a wall of the box adjacent to a coin-chute within the boxywhose edges are inclined toward eachother and are relatively movable, arevoluble pocket provided with abutments, a coin-runway descending fromthe said pocket to a coin-receptacle outside the box, aseoondcoinpassage normally blocked by a spring, a registering device operatedby the said spring,

a gong in proximity to the exit of the second coin-passage; with meansfor retaining a coin within the coin-chute, for causing thesame to falltherefrom into said pocket, and for diverting the coin into the runway,or through the second coin-passage and againstthe gong, as set forth.

3. A coin alarm and registering apparatus,

.consisting of a box supported upon a base or back board, a coin-slotinl a wall of the box opening to a coin-chute within the box, one edgeand side of which are formed by a pivoted resilient member, the oppositeedge consisting of a movable bar, the two edges normally inclining toeach other, a revoluble pocket having abutments, a coin-runwaydescending from the said pocket to a coin-receptacle outside the Wallsof the box, a second coin-passage normally blocked by a at spring, agong in proximity to the exit of the second coin-passage, a registeringdevice operated by the movement of the said flat spring; with meansfortretaining a coin within the coin-chute, for causing the same to falltherefrom into said pocket, and for diverting the coin into the runwayor through the sec ond coin-passage, and against the gong, as set forth.g

y 4. A coin alarm and registering apparatus, consisting of a box, ablock-secured within the box adapted to support the operating parts, adrawer or coin-receiver; a coin-slot in the top of the box opening to acoin-chute Within the box, the edges'of the lower ends .of which yareinclined toward one another, and relatively movable, a rotative pockethaving two abutments secured to a spindle projecting through the frontwall of the box and having upon its end a crank-lever, a coin-runwayd'escending from the saidl pocket to a coin-receptacle outside the box,a second coin-passage normally blocked by a resilient abutment and aspring, a registering device op erative by the said spring, a gong inproximityto the exit ofthe second coin-passage, and

lan ejectingdever; whereby when the said crank-lever is rotated in onedirection, an inserted coin fallsinto said pocket and is carried to thesaid coin-receptacle, and when turned in the opposite direction the coinis carried through the second coin-passage and ejected against the gong,as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specication, in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses, this 16th day of January, 1902.

Y ALBERT BARRETT.

Witnesses:

JENNIE FULTON, MARIAN D. RAY.

